Xbox Kinect, Windows Phone 7, Windows 7 tablets, Bing, Office Web Apps – some of these could be considered cool. Are they?

CNN’s Poppy Harlow: “Maybe there’s a perception problem with Microsoft. Sometimes the media tends to write Microsoft off as old or out-of-touch. And then you look at the profitability of this company. You look at Office. You look at the success of Bing. You look at how much Microsoft does have going for it. Is it hard to communicate that? What is it?”

Ballmer: “Let’s talk about the dialog with the consumer. Xbox 360 and Kinect – all I’ve heard is great (feedback). I mean, look at the buzz coming back from consumers. You can control your TV now with your voice and your hands! <airkiss> Unbelieveable.

Ballmer

“Bing – the buzz has all been great on Bing. But … habits die easily. Windows 7 – the buzz on Windows 7 is phenomenal. So, with the consumer, we’ve got a lot of great things going on, and I think that’s what’s most important. Doesn’t mean we don’t have competitive challenges; we certainly do have competitive challenges.”

Harlow: “What do you think is most cool about Microsoft?”

Ballmer: “Apple’s got some stuff, but we’re going to give them a real run for their money. They’ve got some stuff that’s resonating, and I’m not really sure Google does right now. I mean, you know, it’s been a long time since Gmail or the Google search engine changed at all. …

“Right now, what we’re trying to do is some things with Windows Phones, with Xboxes, with next-generation – we showed some next-generation tablet PCs at the Computex show. Got some stuff coming that I think people will resonate with.”

What do you think?

Here’s the CNN video clip. The first half is about Office Web Apps. The “Microsoft cool factor” segment starts at 1:30.